Sea anchor



Patente-d June 23, 1925.

v www PATENT; QFFILLCE ,l member', by

IVAN 4Rufina@smily/rrite,for AINSDALE, ENGLAND.

To all w'homfz'z may concern: 3

Be it known that I, IVAN RUPERTFLEMING, ay subject of the Kingo'f`Ilngland, and resid'- ,ing atl() BIossgielAvenue, Ains'dafle, in the'county ofLanc'aster, Englai'idyhav'e inyente d "certai'ii new`d"`u`se`fulImprovements in Sea Anchors, ofwhichfthefollowiiig: isa'speciicationf v f K .Y M This inyentio'ii' has reference to anchors',and has primarily for its object and effect to proyidefa seajafncliorfor' life boats 'and l"th'r 'crattftvhiclnvwhi'le it isffot rela- Ytively large size viylienvinv use, asis' often required,`ocoupies arelatiye'ly small space in l the b 'oat drei-ait in itliiclr'itcarried.'

The' anchorisexpansible and :collapsible or foldable, andfconsis'tsoff-a body of canvas or equiif'alent; flexible material," and means'suchas ribs; 'linlrsflevera or the'like, for 'connecting the body'VWiththefsaidfstern Vor l A i'yhi'chthe'bdy yc'airbe expanded andlcontractedgfaiid further tl'ieanchorlis Vadapted" to beexpandedaiid'open by the Water When beingntoiyed.jfrThus, 'when thebodyfisiiot iii rise, and' is tolbe ston'je'c'l, it is collapsed,Y andwill; occupy" yer'y little ,'space While Whenit is in4actua-l"lo'pe'ratidn and being towed, it is expanded at one end by thepressure of Wateracting:r lon it.; l

In'soin'e casesjtlie edge ofthe bodyis held by the links or" thelile, orits opening is linii'ted or controlledI byf'sanie; and-iin; Sonie cases"guys orV inesfinaif' connect the`1 edgeot y`thebody` 'erft-nef outereiidstitfthearins, ribs, leyers, or the lilie", ivith rthe stein orvcentral member'. "il y "d fY I -1' 'In one construction,"thestem istelescopic, and to its ,outerendf or to a disk" thereo'n one end ,of'the body is attached, Whilst the inner endsfofA the 'ribsfleverls orarms, are attached.' toV a head `oir"oneenfit of the other ineniber ,ofythe stein il' theiriouterl 'ends bein g A front edgeof the body.Ivn"soinefcases a stopiis pioiiided'on -attached to the outer or onepart ofthe Amembers jot' the telescopic steinrby which 'the lirn't of'nioeinent vof 'the -,one rnernb'erin"rell'at'ioir` d trolledgso thatlwhen the body is expanded or opened to the iequiired'degree andinclina-I tion, it 'cannot ymore further, sothus 1'its' degrec vot openingfislfiinited g' and the" part 'of 'the stress o'n'the' body is transmittedto the SEA VANCHOR. Y

Application filed January 3,1924; Serial No. 684,238;

to'the thercis con- Renewed April 2a, 1925.'

steinfor the fore orr end to which the anchor line is connected.

The :invention is illustrated in the accom paiiying drawings, which'show' `two lnodiicati-ons of the' anchor. *Infthe drawings, Figure'l`elevation 'showing one modification; Figure 2 Y a sectional yelevationshowing'l another; iyhilstFigure 8 is a detail. l

In. the drawings, the anchors `are'shoWn 'open 'orf expanded as inactual' operation; theE dot-ted lines in Figure l `showing the position'of vthe* v-partsfwhenthe anchor is collapsed, `and; in he 'conditionofA stoivage.

The body which is=inacle of canvas or flex- Vi-ble' niaterialiis'niarlied'v l, andfQ' are the -radial'arins, to the outer l lron't'orinoutlredge of the canvas or flexible V'inate'rial -is tobel attached'.In Figurel, 3 'f-isfthestern" to'ivliich the inner endsof the armsLarehinged," and t are tiesA or guysof "rope ori the like, by( whichthe'outer ends of the a'rins 2 are connectedY to the `Afront ortowingend of theistern 3.* 1*

In the case shovel!) in Figure'l, ,the stern is telescopic, Aandato'thestenrpart 3 the inner endsof the ai-nis?, and the 'guys or ropes 4 areconnected; While to thek other para?)X the rear end olfthebody canvas orflexible Ina-- 'teriall isl attached; the attachment inthe 'case'shownbeing to a disc', on'theiend of the stern part 3X. A pulle'yfblock andtackle is attached to the stein orfoperating in con- 'neotioir With4andV controlling anVv oil bag'v i for distributingoil'on tothe" sea :torsinooth- "ing it; orto-Whicha' tripping guy from the boat niaybeconnected for haulingl the rear `end towards' the boat when desiredyashere inafte'r described; y f l The inner end' of' the arinsSQare-'connected to the tubular stern part 3 by vineans of a jawe'd ring'6 i-Xedthere'on; and theinner end of the ropes or guysia are'eonnectedto eyes A'in' a dise 8,011' the opposite end of the `steinv 3, to whichendI also the` hauling swiyel eye orring 9 is attached! In the collapsedposition, the arins'Q With the" discs Gfa'nd. the ring 8', will take theposition shiynin'the dottedv lines. y In this case, .the strain onthevbody'caused vby the 'WalterisV takenpaiztly bythe leading ed'geotthe `fabric L'Whiolri'nay Albe reinl isA a sectional ends of Which theltowing end, that is,vthe

forced, and partly by the cords ll. Or, a stop may be provided on thetube members 3X and 3 so as to limit the movement forward of the ring 6and tube 3, when the anchor is thrown into the sea and towed, and sooutward opening of the mouth is controlled.

The collapsed position of the arm 2 is shown in dotted lines in Figurel, so that an opening would exist at the mouth of the canvas whenfolded, whereby when it is put into the sea, and is towed or pulled on,the water enters it, and, automatically causes the body tofexpand andopen.

Water is permitted to pass through the anchor when in action Vbyproviding the end disc 5 with a number of holes 1l, whichpresent, asubstantial area for the escape of water, anda, constant flow throufghthe anchor. This flow has a steadying and generally improved effect inconnection with the sea anchor.

In the case of a bag of oil for smoothing the sea being used inconnection with an anchor, a pulley block l2 may be faste-ned or securedto the swivel eye or ring l() on the back end of the anchor; the oil bag1B being secured in any suitable manner tothe falls 15 the two ends ofwhich may be joined together so as to form an endless rope, the fallspassing through the block 12 and back to the boat, so that the bag maybe paid out, and put in the sea in advance or beyond the anchor. Thisrope and gear also serve as a tripping gear, as when hauled in, theanchors position becomes reversed in the sea, the end ring l0 being thenforward, next the boat; and in this position the anchor will close andcollapse of itself,.and can be easily taken into the boat; or the anchormay be tripped by hauling in both the ropes at the same time.

An anchor for use in connection with ordinary ships life boats, may havea body of about 4 to 6 feet in diameter, and about the same length orlonger.

In some cases, the ribs may run from the Y front or open end of thecanvas or fabric to the back end, and if desired the anchor can befolded by hinging the parts of the arms and stem.

In the modification shown in Figure 2, the stem portion 3 is in the formof a rope, sa of textile fabric or metal; and the tubular part 6 towhich the arms 2V are attached and hinged, will, in use, engage a knob3X* on the end of the rope.

The ring 8 in this case, to which the guys or ropes t are connected,slides on the stem 3, and engages a stop l2, when the anchor isexpanded; and thus the outward movement of the arms 2 is limited andregulated, land strain does not come on the edge of the In addition toor instead of outlet holes being provided in the disc 5, they may .be

l their provided in the back end of the body l itself, also ropes may beattached to the body l, and extend between the disc 5 and the outer edgeof the body. i

In some cases, to keep the mouth of the anchor open when in its closedor folded condition, a disc may be provided on the stem 3, so that thearms 2 cannot move beyond the edge of this disc inwards.

In some cases the ribs 2 themselves, as well as the stem 3, can behinged or folded in centres, so as to fold upV more compactly.

When the anchor is folded, it may be bound about with the tripping lineor tackle above referred to; and so constitutes a compact and smallbody, occupying a very small space; and can be readily stowed within anoiled o r waterproof cover to protect and preserve it, so that at alltimes it will be in good sound condition, and availablefor immediateuse; and furthermore when stowed it will take very little space and beout of the way of the occupants of the boat.

A sea anchor of the kind concerned, of relatively large size, can thus be used in a life boat, as it occupies very little storage space; andtherefore the use of a relatively large powered anchor is renderedfeasible, and so a boat may be prevented from'drifting very much, fromthe position it is desired to remain in; and, furthermore, the trippingline being in the form of endless falls, with oil bag attached, ensuresthat the bag can always be let go with the sea anchor, and it can bereadilyhauled inboard for refilling if' desired.

Buoyancy devices may be used in connection with the anchor such as cork,or air vessels, to keep it at the required depth of im mersion.

IV hat is claimed is A l. A sea anchor including a hollow a pluralityofarms pivotally one end to the stem, a canvas body having one edgeconnected to the outer endsv of said arms, a rod slidable in the stemand forming a continuation thereof when extended, a disc secured uponthe rod and formed with openings, the remaining edge of the body beingconnected to the peripheral edge of said disc, and guy ropes extendingfrom the free ends of the arms to the forward end of the stem.

2. A sea anchor including a hollow stem, a plurality of arms pivotallyconnected at one end to the stem, a canvas body having one edgeconnected to the outer ends of said arms, a rod slidable in the stem andforming a continuation thereof when extended, a disc secured upon therod and formed with openings, the remaining edge of the body beingconnected to the peripheral edge of said disc, guy ropes extending fromthe free ends of the arms to the forward end of the stem, connected atstem, a ring arranged on theend of the rod beyond the diso, a pulleyblock engaging said ring, an endless rope having one strand passed ovellthe pulley block, und an oil bag connected to said rope, whereby the oilbag may be permitted to drift beyond the anchor or drawn into Contactwith the pulley block,

said rope serving as a tripping gear for the anchor.

In testimony whereof I have signed my IVAN RUPERT FLEMING.

Witnesses:

BARBARA JAQUns, MABEL PEGK.

